Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism
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Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism Amy Abel Section Research Manager Paul W. Parfomak Specialist in Energy and Infrastructure Policy Dana A. Shea Specialist in Science and Technology Policy April 9, 2004 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R42795 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism Summary The U.S. electric power system has historically operated at such a high level of reliability that any major outage, either caused by sabotage, weather, or operational errors, makes news headlines. The transmission system is extensive, consisting mainly of transformers, switches, transmission towers and lines, control centers, and computer controls. A spectrum of threats exists to the electric system ranging from weather-related to terrorist attacks, including physical attacks, as well as attacks on computer systems, or cyber attacks. The main risk from weather-related damage or a terrorist attack against the electric power industry is a widespread power outage that lasts for an extended period of time. Of the transmission system’s physical infrastructure, the high-voltage (HV) transformers are arguably the most critical component. Utilities rarely experience loss of an individual HV transformer, but recovery from such a loss takes months if no spare is available. Conversely, utilities regularly experience damage to transmission towers due to both weather and malicious activities, and are able to recover from this damage fairly rapidly. While occasionally causing blackouts, outages resulting from these attacks generally have not been widespread or long- lasting. Several options exist to mitigate vulnerabilities. Several groups have long proposed the stockpiling equipment as emergency replacements for critical units that do not currently have secure spares. However, some argue that a stockpile would be costly. Another option is to standardize the designs of permanent HV transformers to facilitate emergency recovery. Some have proposed revitalizing domestic manufacturing of HV transformers arguing that a reliance on foreign manufacturers would increase recovery time due to shipping time. However, others argue that the additional shipping time is not significant compared to overall manufacturing time. Threats against control systems may come from several different directions, such as state- sponsored attack, terrorist group attack, computer hacking, and worm or viral infection. However, the risk posed to industrial control systems from Internet-based attack is difficult to assess. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system vulnerability reduction may be achieved through several routes, including an increase in corporate and overall cyber-security, implementation of best-practices to bolster existing security functions in control system networks, stronger oversight and enforcement of security guidelines, and new technologies for secure control systems. Issues facing Congress include: What should be done to address vulnerabilities in the electric system? Who should be responsible for implementing appropriate actions? Who should pay? Should reliability guidelines or standards be implemented by the federal government or industry groups? And, who should be responsible for carrying out research and development to reduce vulnerabilities? Congressional Research Service Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism Contents Introduction and Overview .............................................................................................................. 1 Regulatory Overlay ................................................................................................................... 3 Federal Initiatives................................................................................................................ 3 Issues Relating to Electric Restructuring................................................................................... 7 Market Information ............................................................................................................. 8 Cost Recovery and Restructuring........................................................................................ 8 Utility Industry Restructuring and High-Voltage Transformer Manufacturing................... 9 Transmission System Physical Vulnerability................................................................................... 9 Electric Power High Voltage Transformers ............................................................................. 10 High Voltage (HV) Transformer Characteristics............................................................... 10 Manufacture ...................................................................................................................... 11 Inventory ........................................................................................................................... 12 Criticality of HV Transformers................................................................................................ 12 Vulnerability of HV Transformers........................................................................................... 14 HV Transformer Vulnerability In Perspective................................................................... 16 Control Center Characteristics and Physical Vulnerabilities................................................... 17 Transmission Tower Characteristics and Vulnerabilities......................................................... 18 Industry Security Initiatives—Physical Infrastructure ............................................................ 19 Government Security Initiatives—Physical Infrastructure...................................................... 20 Department of Homeland Security.................................................................................... 20 Department of Defense...................................................................................................... 21 Department of Energy ....................................................................................................... 21 State Utility Commissions................................................................................................. 21 Cyber Systems in the Electric Utility Industry .............................................................................. 21 Electric Utility Cyber Characteristics and Vulnerabilities....................................................... 22 Threat to Cyber Systems .........................................................................................................23 Cyber Vulnerability Reduction................................................................................................ 24 Cyber Research Activities ................................................................................................. 26 Policy Issues .................................................................................................................................. 26 Physical Security Issues .......................................................................................................... 28 “Hardening” HV Transformer Substations........................................................................ 28 Recovery Speed................................................................................................................. 29 Increasing Contingency Planning...................................................................................... 32 Developing New Transformer Technologies..................................................................... 32 Expanding Transmission Capacity.................................................................................... 33 Cyber-security Issues............................................................................................................... 34 Figures Figure 1. Electric Transmission Network ........................................................................................ 1 Figure 2. The Electric Power System .............................................................................................. 3 Figure 3. FERC Jurisdiction of Transmission Lines........................................................................ 5 Figure 4. FERC Jurisdiction of Service Territories.......................................................................... 6 Congressional Research Service Electric Utility Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Transformers, Towers, and Terrorism Figure 5. 345 kV Transformer Installation .................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Estimated Number of 500 kV or Larger Transformer Substations by NERC Region......................................................................................................................................... 13 Tables Table A-1. Global High-Voltage Transformer Manufacturers, 2004 ............................................. 35 Table A-2. 2002 Export and Trade Data for High-Voltage Transfers* .......................................... 36 Appendixes Appendix A. High-Voltage Transformer Trade Data ..................................................................... 35 Appendix B. Electric Utility Infrastructure Information Sharing and Antitrust Implications ...............................................................................................................................